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I decided to use the
last few days of 2013 to write posts to review conferences and events that I
attended outside Trinidad this year. Why? Because I find people's views on events
to be helpful when deciding what to attend and hopefully my feedback will be
useful to someone when they are choosing events in 2014! I will start off with
TechEd North America 2013 which was held at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
in New Orleans, Louisiana. TechEd is an annual technical conference which is
held by Microsoft for IT professionals and developers.The conference has various sessions that
allow you to learn about the future of Microsoft’s products, solutions and
services. Please note that this was my first time attending a TechEd event so I
can’t compare it to previous instalments.

Front view of the Convention Center

Content

There were many
sessions to choose from but not many if your focus is just one
product/technology like SQL Server. To me this wasn’t an issue because if there
were no SQL Server sessions that I wanted to attend then going to an
Infrastructure or Developer session was still very useful to me. Even if you
couldn’t find a track session that you considered interesting, there were
certification sessions that were valuable even if you already passed the exams.
Let's be real, passing an exam doesn’t mean you know absolutely everything in
the course and who knows this may come in handy if you start offering training
in the future (hint: opportunity). As for the speakers, the list is made up of
individuals who are well-established and very knowledgeable in their
field.

Transaction Log session

Certification and
Labs

If you went to
sessions and saw something that interested you in a session then you could head
down to the hands-on lab area and actually try out what you saw or play around
with the product/feature. Not sure what you're doing or how to get started? No
problem because there were a number of MCTs available to assist at the labs
area. Also, you could have done certification exams on the spot for 50% of the
cost. There was even the option to take practice tests

Expo Area

Me at MSE Booth

Expo areas are my
favourite at conferences because it is the best place to meet new people and
build your network. The interesting thing about this expo was the fact that
there were vendors with productsthat
are considered competition to Microsoft products. They were there because they
were a sponsor and added some value to another product (Yes Oracle had a
booth!).This expo was also different
because I was working at Microsoft Solutions Experience (MSE) Data Insights
area. In most MSE areas there were a number of product experts made up of MVPs
and Microsoft Product Group members who answered questions about various
products and features. One cool thing about the MSE was the fact that the
experts included speakers so if you needed clarity on anything from their
session then you could have asked them at the booth.

Other Cool Stuff

There were many book
signings which meant free autographed books. There were lots of swag from
various vendors and you also had the option to buy at a conference store at the
venue. An abundant supply of caffeine was available but I guess that is expected
at Microsoft events. The event had random events at various MSE booths and
various “After Hours” events during the week which included vendor parties and
the closing attendee party at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome with a Tina Turner
performance. Last thing that I must mention is the super Surface sale that
allowed me to get my Surface Pro for $399.

Closing Attendee Party with Tina Tuner on stage

Expo Hall

Con

The venue was too
big which made it very difficult to get to some sessions on time and in some
cases I didn’t even bother to attend one or two because of the hassle involved
in reaching back to the booth on time.

As I mentioned this
was my first time at TechEd and also my first time in New Orleans so everything
was fantastic for me (hence why only one con). I know people say TechEd has
become more marketing oriented but the sessions that I went to had lots of demos
and the MSE areas is a great platform for technical discussions. I understand
why you might not want to attend if your focus is one product but I recommend
it if you want to widen your scope or if your focus is more than one Microsoft
product. New Orleans was also a factor for the event because I really enjoyed
the food and the weather. I also had a great tour guide named Adam Machanic so
finding the right places to eat and hangout wasn’t an issue.

Registration is open
for TechEd North America 2014, which is being held from May 12-15 in Houston,
Texas.